The present invention concerns methods and apparatuses for making color prints in dependence upon the characteristics of the particular film type involved, i.e., out of the variety of film types that a particular color print system is called on at different types to process. With methods and systems of this type, the exposure station control system includes a storage storing control signals dependent upon film-type parameter values for various color film types, such as spectral ranges and properties, possibly masking densities, Schwarzschild-exponent values, and so forth. The exposure station control system must be furnished with this information for a particular film type, if the automatic exposure control at the printing station is to be performed properly for the particular film type next to be printed from.
In one known system of this type, this film-type information, or the control signals required for the differing film types which are to be handled, is stored in a so-called calibration memory containing sets of resistors for each color channel. The changeover to the next color film type is implemented by manual switchover or by exchange of modular-plug-in components.
With that system, each time that film of a different type is to be fed into the printing machine, the exposure station control system must be manually switched over or set up again for the new film type. For example, when printing machines are called upon to print from only a few film types, and the differing film types are furthermore developed by differing chemical processes, there is no great difficulty or inconvenience in operating the printing machine, set up for a particular film type, for long periods of time without changing over to another film type. However, when a greater number of differing film types are frequently being received by the machine, and are all to be subjected to identical processing, the problem of setting up the printer for each different film type in succession becomes a serious one.